Gwinnett woman fighting to keep backyard ‘emotional support’ chickens

GWINNETT COUNTY, Ga. — A Gwinnett County woman is fighting to keep her backyard chickens after learning she was violating a city livestock ordinance and being ordered to remove the chickens from her Snellville home.

Melissa Mellone told Channel 2 Gwinnett County Bureau Chief Matt Johnson that she started keeping chickens in her backyard seven years ago when she was battling cancer.

“That feeling of I might die tomorrow, or I may die next month,” she said, “all those negative feelings disappeared when I held that little chick in my hands.”

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She built a chicken coop for the chickens and began to care for and rely on them as her emotional support animals, she says. The time with her chickens helps her care for her mother with dementia and her disabled husband, according to Mellone.

The chickens produce an egg per day, she says, and the eggs from her chickens go to her family and are also donated to neighbors.

“They’re all beautiful,” she said. “It’s going to kill me if I lose them.”

She received a Snellville notice of violation in February after a neighbor complained about her chickens. She has nine female chickens along with one rooster. Snellville livestock ordinances forbid backyard chickens on properties less than five acres.

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“I wouldn’t have put them through this if I knew about the ordinance,” she said.

Gwinnett County ordinances are more forgiving for backyard chickens. However, roosters are banned in the county as well.

Mellone says she spoke to city officials on Thursday in an attempt to make a last-ditch effort to keep the chickens.

“I went back to City Hall and they said there’s no chance,” she said.

Mellone has until the end of March to remove the chickens from her property and also the chicken coop, according to Mellone. A failure to comply could lead to fines and jail time, according to the letter.

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